PC 06/24/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

_ Chair Cooper replied that the Commission will receive testimony from those present and resume the public hearing at the next meeting as the first item on the agenda. Ms. Heidi Kline presented the staff report and reported that the site is located in the North Sycamore Specific Plan (NSSP) area and includes two knolls located on the northwest section neaz the Kass and Ventana Hills properties and on the eastern section neaz the City's water tank. The proposal is for a 63-lot residential development including 62 new single-family homes and one existing home. Eighteen of the lots are between 12,000 and 15,000 square feet; the remaining 44 lots are over 15,000 square feet. Four different house models with different exterior colors and materials aze proposed. The density of the project is 1.8 units per acre for the Developer's Plan, 1.96 units per acre for the "Historical" Plan, and 1.2 units for the Neighbors' Plan. Ms. Kline then explained the background of the NSSP. She stated that a draft NSSP prepared in December 1988 was revised in April 1989 by a committee consisting of property owners and interested residents of adjacent developments. In August 1989, the City Council formed a Citizen Advisory Committee to address issues including land use and circulation patterns for the area, and in January 1990, the City Council directed that the Committee's recommendations be incorporated into the Specific Plan and Environmental Impact Report. The Committee's recommendations which relate to this project included access to the Ventana Hills project through Lund Ranch II, termination of Independence Drive in a cul-de-sac on Pazce120, preservation of rural views, and maintenance of a spacious transition between Ventana Hills and the project through large lots, backyard setbacks, and single-story construction. The Planning Commission subsequently established a minimum lot size of 15,000 square feet along the lots abutting Mission Pazk and the Ventana Hills neighborhood, and in June 1992, the City Council adopted the revised NSSP. In addition, the five-acre elementary school site and the five-acre neighborhood pazk site were eliminated from the Plan. The School District opted to locate its school on the San Francisco Water Department property on Bernal Avenue, and Mission Hills Park would serve the NSSP azea. Ms. Kline continued that the implementation of the NSSP entailed the provision of a new water tank, streets, and public utilities. To accomplish this, each property was assigned lot shares which would divide the costs by the total number of approved lots within four major developments rather than by the number of lots projected in the NSSP. In this sense, each development would be responsible only for the total number of approved lots, with the pro-rata shaze of improvement costs per lot increasing with a decrease in the number of approved lots. Ms. Kline indicated that a tree report prepared for the development identified 93 trees on the site, 23 of which were recommended to be retained. In addition, the developer has agreed to try and retain a 34-inch diameter valley oak heritage tree located next to the northeast corner of the rear property line and a 27-inch diameter valley oak heritage tree located along the reaz property line of the Ventana Hills subdivision. Ms. Kline stated that the Ventana Hills residents expressed concern that the construction of new homes on the slopebanks would exacerbate the existing groundwater and subsurface water problems in the _ Ventana Hills subdivision. A report by the City's consulting geologist indicated that construction would decrease the problem by picking up the water that would normally run down the hill and direct it to the Planning Commission Minutes Page 19 June 24, 1998